Get off the couch
Interesting story on obesity at CNN: people who are modestly overweight actually have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight. I'd wager that the reason for this is that people being defined as of "normal" weight actually includes many for whom their normal weight is more than they actually weigh, and as Paul Campos could tell you, 'artificially' losing weight is far more hazardous to your health than simply eating right, exercising appropriately, and not obsessing about losing that last 10 pounds:
"The new analysis found that obesity -- being extremely overweight -- is indisputably lethal. But like several recent smaller studies, it found that people who are modestly overweight have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.
Biostatistician Mary Grace Kovar, a consultant for the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center in Washington, said 'normal' may be set too low for today's population."
No way. You mean North America has embraced an unhealthy, unrealistic body image?
If you're a big person (like me, which of course is why the issue bugs me so much) and you exercise regularly (I believe the minimum is 30 minutes of moderate activity a day) and eat well, you may lose weight if your previous habits were unhealthy. But after a while, that will stop. And if you try to keep losing weight, that's when you start lowering your life expectancy. Not everyone is naturally slim, and the sooner we come to grips with that (no, I don't think we'll see it in my lifetime), the happier we'll all be.
"The new analysis found that obesity -- being extremely overweight -- is indisputably lethal. But like several recent smaller studies, it found that people who are modestly overweight have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.
Biostatistician Mary Grace Kovar, a consultant for the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center in Washington, said 'normal' may be set too low for today's population."
No way. You mean North America has embraced an unhealthy, unrealistic body image?
If you're a big person (like me, which of course is why the issue bugs me so much) and you exercise regularly (I believe the minimum is 30 minutes of moderate activity a day) and eat well, you may lose weight if your previous habits were unhealthy. But after a while, that will stop. And if you try to keep losing weight, that's when you start lowering your life expectancy. Not everyone is naturally slim, and the sooner we come to grips with that (no, I don't think we'll see it in my lifetime), the happier we'll all be.
